Marriage isn’t always easy — that’s probably why so many of us are looking for some words of wisdom as we move through the wild ride of maintaining a healthy partnership. Luckily we’ve got you covered. We’ve compiled some funny, inspiring — but most of all, honest — quotes about marriage that will remind you why you signed up for this partnership in the first place.

Let these marriage quotes help you remember the pleasure and excitement that made you fall in love to begin with. Let them remind you about the qualities that really matter in a marriage (spoiler alert: humor is definitely one of them). Let them assure you it’s normal to make mistakes along the way, and that no marriage is perfect, ever.

Most of all, allow these quotes to help you feel less alone as you navigate the pain and turmoil all marriages at times face. These are the real marriage moments that don’t get talked about or acknowledged. Yet, knowing that what you are experiencing is normal (and that difficulties will pass!) may be just what gets you through the most difficult times.

10 Marriage Quotes

1. “To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow — this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.”

Elizabeth Gilbert

2. “I don’t want to be married just to be married. I can’t think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can’t talk to, or worse, someone I can’t be silent with.”

Mary Ann Shaffer

3. “I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.”

Rita Rudner

4. “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

5. “Marriage is not a noun. It’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do. It’s the way you love your partner every day.”

Barbara DeAngelis

6. “We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness — and call it love — true love.”

Robert Fulgham

7. “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate then when I fall asleep your eyes close.”

Pablo Neruda

8. “I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

Marilyn Monroe

9. “Marriages are like fingerprints; each one is different and each one is beautiful.”

Maggie Reyes

10. “There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving. But who wants easier?”

Mary Oliver

Marriage isn’t always sunshine and roses. It’s blood, sweat, and tears. It’s feeling irritated by every breath your partner takes, but melting into their arms at the end of a long, hard day. It’s sharing the most meaningful, miraculous moments one minute, and enduring the greatest hardships imaginable the next.

It’s a sobering fact that 40-50% of all marriages end in divorce. So many of us have trouble trusting that our marriage won’t end up in the divorce pile, too. In fact, fear and distrust of marriage is one of the things that prevents people from getting married in the first place; it’s also one of the reasons some people have trouble committing to their marriage once they are in it.

But this is all the more reason why we all need to be open about our feelings — to our partners and ourselves. It’s why we reach out for help when the going gets touch (couple’s therapy is a great option for many couples facing challenges). And it’s why sharing stories, inspirational quotes, and just keeping it real about the struggles and joys of marriage is such a healing, affirming, and powerful act.